James Gillray was born in London in the Chelsey district. His father was Scottish and a war veteran. The young Gillray learned the profession of letter engraver and was later accepted as a student at the Royal Academy, working as an engraver time and again to finance his studies and livelihood. From a very young age he was interested in caricature, he especially loved William Hogarth, a very famous caricaturist of the 18th century who was his great idol. Very soon Gillray also began to publish caricatures himself, albeit at first under a fictitious name. Only little by little did drawings with his name appear. For many contemporaries and even today James Gillrey is considered "the father of political and social caricature". Of course, he also lived in a time of great political and social upheavals and also in a time when caricature as an important means of expression for depicting events and their interpretation became fashionable and suitable for the masses. Gillrey's intellect, his wit, his sometimes pitch-black humour and his gift for observation, but also his great talent for drawing made his works unique.
In his private life he was not so successful and happy. He suffered from arthritis or gout in his hands at a younger age, which caused him great pain, and his vision was also increasingly poor. Disabled in his work, he became melancholy and increasingly addicted to alcohol. James Gillray did not start a family either, but he probably lived with his publisher Hannah Humphrey for many years and thought about marrying her from time to time. At least contemporaries ascribe a relationship to the two and it is a fact that Hannah Humphrey took care of Gillray after he wanted to take his own life by jumping out of a window in 1811. He survived, but was repeatedly confronted with severe depressions and psychoses. In 1815 the artist died at the age of only 58 years. Among collectors the caricatures of James Gillray are still very popular. Key prints such as "Fashionable Contrasts" and "Light Expelling Darkness" have already fetched prices of 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars at auctions.
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.jpg "The Plum Pudding in danger or State Epicures taking un Petit Souper, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Nelson")
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.jpg "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion, July 2, 1792 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-161499).jpg "Dido in Despair, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Fashionable Contrasts, or The Duchess")
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.jpg "John Bull Taking a Luncheon, or British Cooks, cramming Old Grumble-Gizzard with Bonne-Chere, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Destruction of the French Colossus by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Grand Coronation Procession of Napoleon the 1st Emperor of France, from the Church of Notre-Dame by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Le Baiser a la Wirtembourg, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1797 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-297654).jpg "Tales of Wonder, pub. H. Humphrey, London, 1802 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "National Conveniences, 1769 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Fighting for the Dunghill or Jack Tar settling Buonaparte by James Gillray")
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.jpg "New Morality, or The Promised Installment of the High Priest of the Theophilanthropes by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Germans Eating Sauerkraut by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Wine Duty, or The Triumph of Bacchus and Silenus with John Bull")
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.jpg "The Grand Coronation Procession of Napoleon, the 1st Emperor of France, from the Church of Notre-Dame, 2nd December 1804, published 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Prince of the Old School by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Famous Battle Between Richard Humphreys and Daniel Mendoza, January 9th 1788 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Gillray Cartoon on Vaccination Against Smallpox Using Cowpox Serum by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-284787).jpg "Jack a Both Sides, Published by William Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Balance of Power, or The Posterity of the Immortal Chatham turned")
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.jpg "The Tree of Liberty with the Devil Tempting John Bull by James Gillray")
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 Taking Leave of his Wife and Family 1793 - (MeisterDrucke-90947).jpg "Louis XVI Taking Leave of his Wife and Family, 1793 by James Gillray")
 Taking Leave of his Wife and Family 1793 - (MeisterDrucke-90947).jpg)
.jpg "The Bear and His Leader, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1806 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Death of Admiral Lord Nelson at the Moment of Victory! published by Hannah Humphrey in 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Disciples catching the Mantle: the Spirit of Darkness overshadowing the Priests of Baal by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Cow Pock or the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Duet:")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-184135).jpg "Integrity Retiring from Office! by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-41804).jpg "The Plum Pudding in Danger, 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Great South Sea Caterpillar Transformed into a Bath Butterfly by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Allied Powers Un-Booting Egalite by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Loss of the Faro Bank, or The Rook")
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.jpg "The Gout, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1799 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Broad Hint of Not Meaning to Dance by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Breathing a Vein by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Delicious Dreams! Castles in the Air! Glorious Prospects! An Afternoon Nap after the Fatigue of an Official Dinner, cartoon depicting Lord Portland and his ministers by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Boxing Match between Thomas Futrell and John Jackson, June 9th 1788 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Devil to Pay: The Wife Metamorphos")
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.jpg "Gentle Emetic, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Buonaparte hearing of Nelson")
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.jpg "The Cow Pock or the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation by James Gillray")
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 (see also 152999) - (MeisterDrucke-38752).jpg "The Plum Pudding in Danger by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392484).jpg "A Hackney Meeting by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Doublures of Characters, or Striking Resemblances in Phisiognomy by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The First Kiss in Ten Years! or The Meeting of Britannia and Citizen Francois, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1803 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Overthrow of the Republican Babel, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1809 by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-73037).jpg "Presages of the Millennium, published 1795 by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-146558).jpg "Disciples Catching the Mantle - The Spirit of Darkness Overshadowing the Priests of Baal by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Delicious Dreams: Castles in the Air! - Glorious Prospects!, pub. 1808 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Political Ravishment, or the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in Danger!, 1797 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Elements of Skating: Making the Most of a Passing Friend by James Gillray")
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.jpg "John Bull and The Sinking Fund - a Petty scheme for Reducing the Taxes and paying off the National Debt by James Gillray")
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.jpg "God Save the King- in a Bumper, or An Evening Scene Three Times a Week at Wimbleton by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Making Decent; i.e. Broad-Bottomites Getting into the Grand Costume by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392124).jpg "Patent-Bolsters: The Way to Stay in Good Shape by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Lame Devil by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The French Invasion, or John Bull Bombarding the Bum-Boats, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Discipline at Kenyon by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Peep into the Cave of Jacobinism (published by Hannah Humphrey) by James Gillray")
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.jpg "John Bull taking Luncheon or British Cooks cramming Old Grumble Gizzard with Bonne Chere by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392736).jpg "Sampson overcome by a Philistine, pub. 1782 by James Gillray")
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 published by - (MeisterDrucke-254406).jpg "The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver (Plate 2d) by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392478).jpg "The Giant Factotum amusing himself by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Dun-Shaw, One Foot in Leadenhall Street & the other in the Province of Bengal by James Gillray")
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.jpg "John Bull and the Sinking Fund or A Pretty Scheme for Reducing Taxes and Paying off the National Debt by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Hanging and Drowning, or Fatal Effects of the French Defeat by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Famous Battle Between Richard Humphreys and Daniel Mendoza, January 9th 1788 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Bombardinian, conferring upon State Affairs with one in Office, pub. 1779 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Britannia in French Stays, or Re-Form at the Expense of Constitution, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Arms of France, Illustration from")
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_published_by_Hannah_Humph_-_(MeisterDrucke-185733).jpg "Portrait of Charles Howard, Duke of Norfolk, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1800 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-36659).jpg "Harmony before Matrimony by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392475).jpg "Midas, Transmuting all into Gold Paper by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-39661).jpg "Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt: Destruction of Revolutionary Crocodiles, 1798 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-276364).jpg "Windy Weather by James Gillray")
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.jpg "British Tars Towing the Danish Fleet into Harbour: the Broad Bottom Leviathan Trying to Swamp Billy")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-88562).jpg "Reception of the Diplomatique and his Suite at the Court of Pekin by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-196484).jpg "Taking Physick, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1800 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-280859).jpg "The Reconciliation, published by Hannah Humphrey, 1804 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Lieutenant Governor Gall-Stone, Inspired by Alecto, or The Birth of Minerva by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Mamlouk et Hussard Republicain, or General Result of Bonaparte")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392102).jpg "Consequences of a Successful French Invasion, pub. 1798 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "British Tars towing the Danish Fleet into Harbour, or The Broadbottom Leviathan trying to swamp Billy")
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.jpg "The Spanish Bull Fight or the Corsican Matador in Danger, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Pylades and Orestes by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-308894).jpg "Les Invisibles by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Delicious Dreams! Castles in the Air! Glorious Prospects! vide An Afternoon Nap after the Fatigue of an Official Dinner by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Satire on the Panic Among the Patriots After the Restoration of Stadtholder William V, 1787 by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-370752).jpg "Ancient Music by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Scientific Researches! New Discoveries in Pneumatics! or An Experimental Lecture on the Powers of Air, Cartoon of a Lecture at the Royal Institution Demonstrating the Effects of Laughing Gas by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Former Occupations, or Madam Talian and the Empress Josephine Dancing Naked before Barrass in the Winter of 1797 - a Fact! by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Reception of the Diplomatique & his Suite, at the Court of Pekin, 1792 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Death of Admiral Lord Nelson, in the moment of Victory, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Man of Feeling in Search of Indispensibles; a Scene at the Little French Milliners by James Gillray")
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.jpg "For Improving the Breed, Sketched at Wirtemberg, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1796 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Integrity Retiring from Office by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Napoleon Baking a New Batch of Kings, 1806 by James Gillray")
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